Grandfatha's Fatha

Lyrics

When I was a young lad and had never known a job I would visit my grandfather once a week And I’d listen to his tales whilst sitting on his knee But of his days at work he’d never speak

I found out that his father had died long ago When granda was a young lad like mysel’ It was down the pit he died whilst working on the gang There was a big explosion so they tell

They were cut off from the world When the big cage doors were closed They sang and talked to keep their spirits high Then his father told the tale Of when he’d met Old Nick Himself And then he joked he’d see them all in Hell

They’d both left home together They were both on the same long shift And with the other men they piled into the cage But the clanging of machinery as they descended down Was warning them “you’re going to your graves”

When the cage reached the bottom All the men clambered out And like tiny ants they laboured in the gloom Then an almighty bang rent the air As the men began to shout And the roof caved in to seal them in their tomb

They were cut off from the world When the big cage doors were closed They sang and talked to keep their spirits high Then his father told the tale Of when he’d met Old Nick Himself And then he joked he’d see them all in Hell

No one knew what had happened Until the dust began to settle It looked like there’d been a battle With the Devil down in Hell My grandfather had been knocked unconscious By a beam that had grazed his skull While his father just lay lifeless where he fell

They’d brought him to the surface By the time that he’d come round Someone said “Son forget what happened To you down there in the dark” But his mind could never escape the horror Of seeing his poor father die In that dark hole that was called his place of work

They were cut off from the world When the big cage doors were closed They sang and talked to keep their spirits high Then his father told the tale Of when he’d met Old Nick Himself And then he joked he’d see them all in Hell